YOUNG songbird Megan Wylie beat off stiff competition to be selected as one of six youngsters to compete in the area finals of a national singing competition.

The 12-year-old from Wichelstowe was one of 17 to grace the boards at a venue in Reading to take part in the regional final of Teenstar.

This was despite being struck down with laryngitis which left her unable to talk less than a week before the competition.

“We’re just thrilled,” said proud mum Nat.

“You could see on her face when she was on the stage waiting for the judges to announce their decision that she just thought she hadn’t done it."

"But the shock, surprise on her face when they said she had been chosen was palpable, so it’s one more step towards the grand final.”

Illness meant the Commonweal School pupil – who performed One More Step, written by her teacher David Oliver, at the event – had only practised once in the week before she performed.

“She had to withdraw from the competition this time last year because she got laryngitis, but this year the worst of it hit the week before,” Nat said.

“We had incredible support from the GP and her voice coach, Tasha Black, as well as David Oliver who made a plan for the best way to protect her voice so she could still perform in the competition.

“As we arrived at the venue she had said she wasn’t sure she would be able to do it and she was worried her voice wouldn’t hold out.

“She later said it was so bad that she couldn’t hear herself sing. We could, but she couldn’t.

“She was last to perform as well, but she did so well. People in the audience – not us – were clapping for her. It was almost like they’d saved the best for last.”

Megan was one of a select pool of 300 talented youngsters to make it through to the regional final and will now take on her five others in the London and South East area final on May 17.

She now only has three weeks to train for the performance, where she plans to perform her own version of an existing record.

The youngster has continued to battle against the odds to realise her dreams despite being diagnosed with mild and moderate hearing loss in both ears.

It means that she struggles to hear soft consonants, making enunciation even more important.

She said: “It doesn’t stop me from enjoying my singing and wanting to perform."

“I think it happened because I listen to a lot of music and I played it too loudly in my headphones and it damaged my ears.

“I’ve had to take a lot of time off school because of it.”

If Megan is successful, she will go through to an area final before taking part in the national final, where she could win £5,000.

“If I win I’m going to give £2,500 to Commonweal because they have been so supportive,” she said.

“I hope the money will help to update their equipment and help other students develop their talents.”

The TeenStar singing competition is the UK’s biggest search for teenage and pre-teen singing acts, with prizes and opportunities for those teen singers serious about developing their talent and music.

It is the third year that the competition has been run, and last year more than 8,000 acts auditioned.

To find out more about the competition visit www.teenstarcompetition.co.uk